eFootball PES

eFootball PES was the mobile offshoot of Konami's long-running football series, which for years competed with FIFA Mobile for the favor of football fans directly on the phone. The controls were adapted for the touchscreen – a virtual joystick for moving players around the pitch and a set of buttons for passing, first-touch passing and shooting – and the game tried to preserve at least some of the tactical depth and emphasis on positioning for which the series had long been famous on home consoles. Collecting and gradually upgrading individual players through training and cards formed the core of long-term progression, similar to competing mobile football titles of the time.

Konami brought licensed teams, leagues and a number of real players into the mobile version, giving the game an authenticity that football fans had long valued, even though the graphics, animation smoothness and overall control responsiveness never quite reached the level of the series' console entries at the time. Seasonal updates, live events tied to real football tournaments and the regular addition of new player cards tried to copy the model that had already proven successful for the competing FIFA on mobile.

Monetization went the route of buying player packs similar to collectible cards, i.e. a gacha mechanic built directly into the football package, combined with a free-to-play approach and ads between matches; the desire for better and rarer player cards was the main driver of repeated spending in the store.

Why play it: Suitable for fans of Konami's football brand looking for a mobile alternative to FIFA, though they should factor in the gacha-based player-collecting system as a central and unavoidable part of the entire gameplay.